A River. A City. A Destiny.

by DARLENE M AZZONE

THE WATERS OF THE OHIO AND Tennessee Rivers acted as the amniotic fluids for the birth of Paducah. George Rogers Clark first noted the site in 1778 en route to capture western Kentucky and the Old Northwest from England. Clark entered a Virginia Treasury warrant claim to the lands at the mouth of the Tennessee in 1795. The claim later fell to William, the younger brother, noted for the Lewis and Clark expedition. In a letter to his son, Meriwether Lewis Clark, then a cadet at West point, William chose the name Paducah to honor a once numerous tribe in the region.

In a manner, Paducah is being rediscovered by those who seek to invest in Kentucky’s inland waterways and the lively cities that thrive along its coasts. In the fall of 2019, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the award of a federal BUILD grant (Better Utilizing